While 2008 was a strong year for the New York-Penn League, with catchers (led by Jason Castro and Derek Norris) and power arms (topped by Adam Reifer and Brad Holt) in abundance, most evaluators were disappointed by the short-season league's talent level in 2009. Lowell outfielder Ryan Westmoreland is a legitimate blue-chip prospect and Williamsport's Sebastian Valle established himself as one of the top young catchers in the lower minors, but the position-player crop dropped off quickly after that. The players who performed best lacked elite tools and easy profiles, while the players with the biggest tools performed poorly.

There was a decent supply of power arms in the league, led by Dominican righthanders Alexander Colome and Arodys Vizcaino. Those two have a chance to be high-end starters, but most of the other electric arms in the league belong to older prospects who profile as relievers.

No 2009 first-round picks logged any meaningful time in the Penn League, and several players with four years of college experience—seniors such as Staten Island righthander Adam Warren and Batavia outfielder Kyle Conley, plus redshirt juniors such as Mahoning Valley outfielder Jason Kipnis and Lowell righty Alex Wilson—dominated the league. It all made for an unusual mix on our NY-P Top 20 list.